CV Writing Tips

1: The "Objectives" / "Summary" Section

The "objective' / "Summary" section is very important in a CV. For those in the early stages of their career, use the Objective section to briefly sight your skills and your goals for the future, as well as how they fit into the position you’re applying for. For more seasoned candidates with a lot of experience, use "summary" in place of objective and allow this section to briefly sight a compelling paragraph about your experience skills and achievements in your past positions and how they fit into the position you're applying for.

2: Information to Include

a) Personal details - This should be the first thing that one sees when looking at your CV, so be sure to start with these. However, be careful not to add unnecessary information like your religion, political affiliation, and so on. Make sure the following information is visible: Full Names and Surname, Contact details (correct phone number and email address), date of birth (or ID number),

b) Education and qualifications - Be sure to include the names of institutions you attended and dates attended. Place the most recent qualification first and the first one last (i.e. varsity before high school). If you are fresh out of school, please note there is no need to add your marks on your CV as your attached Matric Certificate and varsity Transcript will already have those details.

c) Work experience - for ease of reading and reference, your career history should be presented starting with most recent job, going back to your first one. Please ensure you include your dates of work (month and year), and very importantly, please include your responsibilities and achievements under each role (placing more emphasis on your most recent roles). This is how recruiters are able to see if you may be a fit for the position you are applying for.

d) Skill - Include both soft and hard skills, different language skills and any other recent training you have had that is relevant to the role applied for. (examples of hard skills: computer skills, welding, brick laying, etc. / examples of soft skills: communication skills, interpersonal skills, time management, etc.)

f) References -To keep your CV short, neat and concise, you can simply put "Available on request" for this one, unless the job advert states to include them with your application.

3: General Tips

a) For Printed CV's - Print your CV in black ink using a plain fonts, on good quality A4 white paper.Borders and pictures of yourself are not necessary.

b) Tailor your CV for each job you apply for to highlight factual experience and skills relevant to the position.

c) The details provided in your CV will be the basis your interview questions are formed upon, so make sure your CV is clear and easy to read. Ensure you explain any gaps in your career history and avoid falsehoods and inaccuracies all costs.

d) Try to keep your CV to two pages and preferably never more than three. Try to ensure the content is clear, structured, concise and relevant. To save space and word usage, use bullet points rather than full sentences.

e) Be sure to check your CV for any grammatical and spelling errors before you send it out. Make sure the information flows and makes sense. It is always best to ask someone to look over it for any mistakes before you press send.

f) Your CV should always be accompanied by a good cover letter. (see previous article on how to write a good cover letter).

I hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!